


Masquerade

by tiddywrites



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fluff, Love at First Sight, Masked ball, Short One Shot, idk what to tag this as lol, yup that's it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 04:32:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17522051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiddywrites/pseuds/tiddywrites
Summary: Another year has come and gone and it is yet again time for the yearly winter ball at the castle. Princess Mina is preparing for what she expects to be a party like many others before it, but her meeting with a masked stranger may make things a little more interesting





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hipster_queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hipster_queen/gifts).



“Mina? How’s it going in there?” Changho calls. His loud knocking on the door startles Areum and nearly results in her smearing red lipstick all over Mina’s face. Being the king of this country one would think he would be a more patient man.

“Everything is fine, father!” Mina replies, not able to hide the annoyance in her voice. “I will be down in a minute!”

“Good, good… I want to show you the decorations before the guests arrive. They’ve really outdone themselves this year!” Hearing the excitement in her father’s voice she isn’t able to stay mad at him for very long. She knows he has been looking forward to tonight for a long time and she isn’t going to be the one ruining his mood.  

The first winter ball was held by Mina’s great grandfather many years ago and since then it has become a yearly tradition. Every year the ruling king or queen holds a great ball at the beginning of winter to celebrate yet another successful year before the colder and darker days takes over. It is always the same noblemen and royals who are invited each year, like king Junseo of Chestermont - an ally country in the great north. In Mina’s humble opinion, he is about as entertaining as a dry piece of bread, but usually he brings his son, crown prince Taekwoon, along. Taekwoon has a bad habit of drinking a little too much at events like this and his low alcohol tolerance usually leads to great entertainment for the guests at the party. Unfortunately, Mina tends to be on the receiving end of Taekwoon’s less than sober gestures of affection and at the end of the night she usually has to carry the crown prince to a secluded chamber to spare at least some of his dignity.

Besides the royals and noblemen, it is tradition that the monarch invites some of the regular people of the country to take part in the festivities as well. It’s never the same people and it varies from blacksmiths to bakers to single mothers. It is a way to keep the relationship between the royal family and the people of the country good and so far, it has worked out.

Mina has never been a fan of the winter ball. In fact, she finds it rather dull. It’s always the same. The royals chat with the royals and the regular people chat with each other in the corners of the castle - behaving as if they’ve intruded in a space where they don’t belong. She always hopes to get a chance to speak casually with some of the people of the country. But this is now her 21th winter ball and until now no one has had the courage to start a conversation with her.

“Your majesty,” Areum says, cutting off Mina’s stream of thoughts. “Do you want me to put this on you now or would you rather wait until later?” In the maid’s hands is a mask, intended for covering the area around the eyes and the nose of a female face. It is made in white velvet, cream pearls hanging from the bottom and swan feathers sticking out from the top of it. It’s beautiful, and Mina can’t help but smile at the sight of it.

 “Oh, dear Areum let’s put it on already, I can hardly wait!” she answers, a hint of the same excitement found in her father’s voice to be heard.

It had been her idea for the attendants of the party to wear masks. At first her father hadn’t been too keen on the idea, not wanting to change an old tradition just like that. But he has always found it hard to deny his daughter’s wishes and in the end, he had agreed to it. Mina has high hopes that people not immediately being able to recognize each other will make them talk with someone, they wouldn’t have talked with otherwise. She hopes that for once there won’t be such a big difference between regular people and the royals.

Finally done preparing for the party, Mina joins her father down in the ballroom. He hadn’t lied when he’d said that the servants had undone themselves with the decorations this year. A grand pine tree dressed in all white has been placed next to the buffet table, on which they have placed a big ice sculpture depicting a swan with its wings spread, ready to fly away. Big bouquets of white flowers have been placed on each of the round dinner tables, which have been pushed to the side of the ballroom to make room for dancing in the middle of the room. Standing against the walls reaching all the way to the ceiling are naked white tree branches with tiny warm balls of light illuminating from them. Mina is certain some kind of magic has had to have been used in order to make these.

“Oh, Mina you look beautiful!” Changho says as he takes his daughter’s hands. Mina chuckles lightly at his compliment. “But you can barely see my face.”

“No, but fortunately for me, I know what beauty hides behind that mask,” Changho is quick to save his compliment. Mina is only able to shake her head at her cheesy old man and lets him show her through the room.

“I was thinking that the two of us could sit here,” he says gesturing to one of the dinner tables placed near the center of the room. “Along with King Junseo and the crown prince of course.” Mina lets go of her father to place her hands on her hips with a big sigh.

“But father, that would defeat the whole purpose of the ball,” she says with a stern look on her father. “We’re supposed to split up and sit with our people.”

“You’re right, you’re right…” he answers, his mind seemingly elsewhere. She can tell he’s up to something before he says it.

“But Lord Namil is joining us this year and I was thinking that dinner would be a great opportunity for you to meet his son, Youngjae.” His eyes are fixed on the table as if he’s still arranging the seats in his mind. “He’s a very kind young man, I’m sure you’re going to like him.” Mina gives him a forced smile. Before he’s able to tell her more about  this “Youngjae” Mina quickly excuse herself, saying that she needs to check up on the people in the kitchen. Naively, Changho accepts her excuse and lets her go. It isn’t until she’s out of her father’s sight that she allows herself to roll her eyes.

She knows she’s at the age of which it would be appropriate to marry. If it was up to her dad she would have been married long ago and he doesn’t miss a chance to bring it up. But luckily, she manages to avoid her father and his recommendations of other possible suitors until the evening, when the gates are opened to the guests.

Mina watches from a distance, peeking out from one of the marble pillars, as the guests enter the castle. She’s awed by the beauty of the different masks they’re wearing. A slender woman walking with her arms around a young man is wearing a mask shaped like the face of a cat and right after her comes a portly man with a golden mask, the nose of the mask reaching all the way down to his chest. A couple of servants are standing by the door, greeting the guests as they enter. Their masks are identical. Full-faced, white and plain.

The ball room slowly starts filling with the many guests who stands around looking shyly at each other, unsure of what to do, until an elderly man takes the first step and sits down by one of the tables. Slowly the rest follows him, filling out the empty seats in the room.

“Princess Mina!” a familiar voice shouts from the entry of the ball room. In a split-second Mina has turned around and rushes to silence the owner of the voice, who’s standing in the ball room door, his big lanky body resting against the door frame.

“Taekwoon!” she hisses under her breath as she speed-walks over to him. His face might be covered by a black mask, but she would be able to pick out her childhood friend in a dark room of 100 people if she had to.

“Please lower your voice” she says as calmly as she can manage. “Everyone in the castle will hear you.” Taekwoon’s facial expression is muted by the mask but Mina still reads his confusion clearly.

“For one night I would like to just blend in with the people, so they won’t be scared of speaking with me,” she pleads, clasping her hands together. “Please Taekwoon… don’t out me already.” She hasn’t told anyone, but the thought of being anonymous for one night has all along been what attracted her the most to having a masked ball. For one night she would like to just have fun without the troubles of being the future queen on her shoulders. Without her father’s never-ending lectures on future husbands and the future of the kingdom. Taekwoon looks at her for a moment before he nods.

“Alright,” he agrees before strictly pointing at her with his index finger. “But I’m sitting with you. I’m going to throw myself into the ocean if I have to be alone with our fathers for the entire evening.” Mina’s face cracks in a smile.

“Alright, alright,” she says, a laugh bubbling underneath her voice. “But we need to find somewhere to sit before all the seats are taken.” Around them most people have taken their seats and mostly single seats are left. But in the far end on the right they manage to find a table with two unoccupied chairs left and they sit down just in time for the king’s welcoming speech. He welcomes the guests, thanking them for coming, and goes on to the usual spiel about how great it is that they can all unite like this across both social and national borders and so on and so on. Mina quickly loses interest and instead she takes a look around at the people in the room. People of all shapes and sizes are there and to her delight it looks like not a single person in the room isn’t wearing a mask. And for once, no one is staring back at her.

Mina and Taekwoon are accompanied at their table by four other people. A young woman, barely Mina’s age, who presents herself as Joowon, an older lady, Gyuri, who is Joowon’s mom, a young man, Minhyuk, and lastly a middle-age man whose breath smells strongly of cheap alcohol and who never introduces himself. When asked about her name Mina avoids the question by instead asking Joowon to hand her the salt.  
The conversation runs smoothly, at least between Mina, Joowon and Minhyuk, through dinner and Mina learns, that Joowon works as a seamstress with her mother in the draper’s shop. She makes a comment about how hard and dry her fingertips have become from all the work, to which her mother exclaims a surprised. “Lee Joowon!”. Mina can’t help but laugh. It is very rare for her to be around her peers like this, and the light atmosphere at the table is liberating.

***

While the servants bring out the plates from the dessert the musicians, the entertainment of the night, sets the stage with their equipment. The conversation is still running smoothly at the table, even Taekwoon has started to join in, when Mina suddenly senses something. She looks around only to spot her father, his broad figure impossible to not recognize despite the mask covering his face, standing next to a young man only a few tables away. He scans the people around him before opening his mouth and once again calling what got Mina’s attention in the first place. “PRINCESS MINA?” She quickly turns back around and as discreetly as humanly possible she pushes herself away from the table. Taekwoon sends her a puzzled look.

“Please excuse me,” she apologizes, her eyes meeting with everyone at the table. “I have to go powder my nose.” Joowon opens her mouth to say something but Mina is gone before she gets the chance. Hiding behind potted plants and servants, she manages to get across the room without being seen. She turns her head to check up on the position of her father and sees that he’s reached Taekwoon who points him towards the restrooms. With her father’s attention redirected she sprints towards the door. She continues running out the door, barely avoiding other guests who have decided to take a stroll in the garden surrounding the castle. She turns her head around to see if she’s escaped her pursuers and is finally stopped when she collides with another person. She makes a surprised sound and grabs onto her poor victim, holding on for dear life as they tumble into a bush. She feels her arms getting cut by the thorns of the bush as the go down, her hair getting stuck on a branch which undoes her bun. Her helpless victim groans lightly underneath her and she quickly pushes herself away.

“I’m terribly sorry”, she apologizes, offering her hand to help the other person up. She finally has a proper look at the person she has run into and realizes that it is a man, seemingly not much older than herself. Luckily, he doesn’t appear to be a prince or a nobleman as his attire is rather plain and far from the extravagant outfits the princes tend to wear. But underneath the modest clothing he seems to be quite fit, judging by his broad shoulders alone. Half of his face is covered by a black mask with red edges, and from underneath the mask a pair of dark eyes shine at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says as he wipes the dirt off his pants.

“Are you alright?” he proceeds to ask and for a moment Mina is taken aback by the genuine sound of concern in his voice.

“Oh… yeah, I’m fine,” she finally answers with a stutter. He smiles at her, muttering a soft: “Good,” and this sparks a feeling of warmth in her chest, like a tiny flame, which she cannot explain.  

“PRINCESS MINA?” she’s startled when he father’s voice suddenly is heard again, not far from them. She immediately panics.

“Duck!” she exclaims, dragging the man down on the ground with her. He does nothing to resist and soon they’re both hiding behind the bush they seconds ago fell into. Through the bush branches she’s just able to see her father and the young man passing right by them, continuing further into the garden.

“Are you-” the man begins, his eyes following the king as well, but isn’t able to finish his question as Mina quickly cuts him off with a. “No! Whoever you’re thinking off I’m certainly not.” Her lie barely manages to convince herself, but the man doesn’t comment on it.

As her father and the young man gets smaller in the distance Mina finally dares taking her eyes off of them, looking back at the man she has somehow gotten dragged into this whole mess. To her surprise there is not a bit of annoyance or anger in his face, unlike the usual stares she gets when she misbehaves. Instead she’s met by a curiosity and a fascination that makes the little fire inside of her flare up. The flames pull at the corners of her lips and he smiles back at her, his eyes turning into curved lines behind the mask. That’s when she notices the blood.

“Oh… sir,” she says, reaching for the handkerchief in her pocket. “It looks like you’re bleeding.” The smile on his lips slowly fades as he lightly grazes his skin with his fingers. Golden skin meets crimson red just above his jaw line.

“I must have cut myself on the bush” he mutters softly more so to himself than to Mina. She hands him the handkerchief and he silently accepts it. For a few moments she watches him dabbing it on the cut trying to get control of the bleeding. But every time he removes the handkerchief from his jaw, new droplets of blood starts taking form.

“Come with me” Mina finally gathers the courage to say after a long moment of silence. She gets up from the ground. “We can’t have you bleeding all over your shirt.” She offers him her hand and to her delight he gladly accepts her it.

***

“That should do it” Mina mutters to herself, taking a step back to admire her work. After some cleaning and a lot of dirty napkins she has finally managed to cover the cut on the man’s face with a band-aid. He’s sitting on the bed in her room, looking so unfamiliar in this little world of hers. They haven’t talked much while they’ve been in there and his voice is like a branch breaking in a lonely forest when he finally speaks.

“You’re sure you’re not-“ he tries asking once more but is yet again cut off. “No… no I’m definitely not.” The last hint of conviction her words might have had is gone, and she’s now blatantly lying. He still doesn’t comment on it.

“I’m Hyunwoo” he presents himself with his hand on his chest.

“Hyunwoo” she repeats quietly, taking in every syllable of the name, feeling it tingle in every inch of her body.

“And if you’re not who I think you are” he continues. “May I ask - who are you then?” She considers for a second. Considers telling one more obvious lie. But in the end, she decides against it.

“I’m Mina,” she finally presents herself truthfully. “ _Just_ Mina.” She isn’t sure what she expected. Maybe for him to drop to his knees and declare his allegiance to the country and the royal family (which has unfortunately happened to her more than once). But her admitting to who she really is doesn’t seem to change anything. He just continues looking at her with that heart-melting smile.

“Alright… _just_ Mina” he says  and gets up from the bed. “Thank you for your help… You really didn’t need to.”

“Well, technically I didn’t need to push you into that bush either.”

“You got a point.” She smiles. She can’t explain what it is. Something about him just makes her feel so at ease. Like she can just be herself for once. It is a rare feeling when living in a castle where your every step is watched, judged and corrected.

“But I am sorry for dragging you away from the party” he apologizes. Mina shrugs.

“Don’t be” she says. “You honestly saved me.” She’s certain that if she looks into those doe-like eyes for one more second she’s going to explode, so instead she moves to open the doors to the balcony. It’s beginning to go dark outside and most of the guest outside have gone inside, seeking shelter from the cold. Faintly, she can hear the sounds of the band playing coming from the open entrance to the castle.

“Saved you?” she didn’t notice Hyunwoo following her until he speaks right behind her. “What could I possibly have saved you from?”

“Let’s just say that I think I was about to be caught up in a very uncomfortable and awkward situation down there” she sighs.

“I’m glad we fended off that situation then” he says. “But now that the danger has passed, maybe I should escort you back to the party?” She feels her heart sink in her chest at his words, but her lips move on their own as they say. “Yeah, you probably should.” He nods, still a little smile pulling the corner of his lips and starts moving towards the door. He is stopped when Mina grabs him by the wrist.

“Or wait” she says, way more desperate than intended. She clears her throat and continues. “I’m… I mean… we could also stay here a for little bit… I mean, if you would like to?” She isn’t used to this. This shyness making her voice quiver. But to her relief he nods.

“Sure,” he says. “I would love to.” _Love to_. The flame in her chest flares up again.

“It’s a beautiful view you got here” he says, resting his elbows on the baluster. She hums in agreement and takes her eyes off of him to look out over the balcony. It is indeed a beautiful view. From this high up you’re able to see all of the lights in the windows of the houses of Judevaia, their country. On clear days you can even see the forest leading up to Eularctis in the distance. She rarely really appreciates this view. She has grown accustomed to luxuries like these after getting them shoved down her throat all of her life. God, what she wouldn’t give to see this place with a fresh pair of eyes instead of ones tired with routine.

“Yes… you can see quite far” Mina sighs with a small nod, mimicking Hyunwoo as she too rests her elbows on the cold marble of the baluster.

“You can even see my house from here” Hyunwoo says with an almost childlike excitement in his voice.

“Really? Where is it?”

“Right there” the flame licks up Mina’s throat as she feels the warmth of his body when he leans in close to her, pointing towards the middle of the city. She leans in a little closer, trying to get the same view of the city as him, feeling his breath brush against her cheek. From here she is able to narrow it down to a group of houses.

“What is it like?” she asks, turning her head to look at him again, their noses only a few inches from touching. “Living down there I mean.”

“It’s nice” he says, his smile coloring his words. “You should visit some time… I could show you around the town.” She thinks she sees a light blush in his cheeks beneath his mask, but she can’t tell whether it’s due to the cold or if it’s caused by something else. The flame once again flares up inside of her and for a second, she’s worried it’s going to spill out of her ears or her nose. So, she does all that she can to answer him: she smiles like a fool.

They share a moment of comfortable silence before the notes of a new song streams out of the doors. Mina hadn’t noticed they had stopped playing. But she immediately recognizes the song they start playing.

“Oh, I love this song” she sighs before realizing how her thoughts have turned into words. She has loved this song ever since she was a kid and her father has always made sure it’s been played at every ball at the castle. It is likely that he has asked the band to play this particular song to lure her out from her hiding. But she isn’t that easy.

“Really...” Hyunwoo says bringing Mina out of her stream of thoughts and back to the balcony. “Well maybe then… I mean if you want to… maybe… We could dance?” There’s a shakiness to his voice she hasn’t heard before. Like he’s nervous. She doesn’t blame him as her heart rate increases rapidly at the mere thought of dancing with him. Not that she hasn’t danced before. But this is the first time she’s been asked to dance with someone she liked. _Really_ liked in fact.

“I would love to” she says. He smiles and without any further they move closer to each other. He puts his hand around her waist. She puts her hand on his shoulder. And lastly, they entwine their fingers. For once she’s away from the curios eyes that always follow her. For once it’s just her. _Just_ Mina. And Hyunwoo of course. _Just_ Mina and Hyunwoo. They don’t speak a word. They don’t have to. They just sway quietly from side to side in tune with the music. His hands are warm, wrapped safely around her hand and waist.

She isn’t sure what makes her do it, or where she gets the courage from. But after dancing for what feels like an eternity, she lets go of his hand to instead place that hand on his other shoulder. He looks baffled for a second but quickly collects himself, placing his free hand around her waist. Like this, with their chests pressed together, it seems they can’t get any closer. And yet Mina still wants more. Wants to be even closer to him. She really must be out of her mind. Must have lost count of the glasses of wine she’s had throughout the evening. At least that is the only way she can explain this emotion she’s feeling.

She feels something cool on her arm and looks up to see soft snowflakes falling from the sky, landing on her bare arms like cold kisses. The first snow of the year.

“It’s snowing” Hyunwoo mutters, his eyes on the sky as well. Their dance has come to a halt in the middle of the balcony, both of them mesmerized by the sky above, as the last notes of the song fades out.

“Mina I’m-“ Hyunwoo starts after a moment of silence, beginning to let go of Mina, but she holds on to his arm.

“Can I kiss you?” she asks breathlessly. “It’s just… Tomorrow I will have to take off this mask and go back to be Princess Mina… and if this is the last chance I get to maybe kiss someone that I like… I just… I don’t want to waste that chance.” Hyunwoo looks surprised to say the least and for a moment she fears she has ruined the whole evening. But finally, he nods.

 “Please do… or I mean… yes, of course you can” he stumbles over his words. “I would like that.” She smiles and with that she closes that small space that’s separating them, connecting their lips in a kiss. It’s short, barely a peck on the lips, but sweet. She pulls away, lobster red in the face, and with a light giggle she tries to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, failing to do so. Gently, Hyunwoo takes her hand and pulls her into his arms. She rests her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat strongly under her fingers. With one arm around her back he uses the other to brush the unruly hair strand behind her ear, before pulling her in for another kiss.

And the fire inside of her erupts into fireworks.

***

“Mina, what are you doing up this early?” Changho asks with a yawn as he passes his daughter who to his surprise is already up and fully clothed. The castle is quiet, only the mild rumble of the servants cleaning the ballroom to be heard.

“I couldn’t sleep any longer” she says, pulling a cape over her shoulders. Changho frowns.

“Where are you going?” he continues his interrogation. Not only is it unusual for his daughter to be the first one to be awake of the two, Changho still sporting a silk pajamas, but it is even more unusual for her to leave on her own like this.

“Oh, I’m just going for a small walk” Mina says with a smile, soothing her father’s mind. “I won’t be gone for long.” She pulls the hood of the cape over her head, and before her father’s gets a chance to stop her, she raises her hand to goodbye and slips out of the door.

It has become a tradition of hers to take a walk in the city after a night like this one. The stuffy ballroom always makes her feel like her mind is overflowing with all of the different sensory input. But nothing cures this feeling like the fresh morning air. The snow is covering the streets like a duvet, crunching softly underneath her boots as she walks. Usually she brings Areum along with her on a trip like this. But a lot of things seem to be out of the ordinary today as she heads for the heart of the city, instead of walking in the outskirts of it as usual. After all, it has been quite an unusual night.

It’s still pretty early in the morning and yet the streets are filled with people. Men and women on their way to work, mothers walking with babies in strollers and kids playing in the fresh snow. Mina is seconds away from being hit by a snowball and she pulls down her hood as she proceeds onwards.

Suddenly, something demands her attention. A smell. She inhales deeply, the sweet smell of freshly baked bread making her sigh out of delight. She turns her head to spot a bakery across the street. She’s certain the head cook at the castle has already prepared something for breakfast. Eating something now and ruining her appetite would definitely make the cook upset. But Mina simply can’t pass on a heavenly smell like this and before she can change her mind she runs across the street.

A bell above the door rings when Mina opens the door to the shop. It’s quite small with different types of breads and buns stacked behind the counter. On top of the counter is a small glass cabinet with various beautifully decorated cakes displayed. She walks closer to the cabinet to get a better look at the cakes when someone yells from the back. “I’ll be right there!” Her heart has stopped in her chest even before he enters the room. His mask is off today, and his formal attire has been replaced with an apron, but she surely would be able to recognize that voice anywhere.

“Mina” Hyunwoo says in a surprised tone. She smiles at him. He smiles at her. “You came.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for my lovely friend Meena! You can't find her fics on her tumblr or on her ao3. The fic was written for a game of secret santa and the other stories can be read right here


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